episode_0500

After arriving at the Iron Horde and staying there for about three days, Ethan felt that there was nothing to be gained by staying here any longer.

It was already a done deal that Lilith had moved to another village, and all they could do was gather the remaining information from the village to find out ‘which village’ she had moved to.

He had been looking for even the smallest clue, and what he found during his three days in the Iron Horde was information about ‘Priest Mirif’, the last member of ‘Assassin Lily’s’ party.

‘There are no other religious facilities in the Iron Horde besides the Church of Aurelia, so she must be a priestess of the Church of Aurelia. Perhaps she knows the last whereabouts of Lilith.’

Ethan, who visited the Aurelia Church disguised as a different profession to avoid being suspected by the church if he visited openly in Blackwood attire, received a somewhat embarrassing answer from the church’s head priest.

“Are you saying that Priest Mirif went to another church branch?”

“Yes. Sister Mirif was already transferred to another branch two weeks ago.”

“Is that so… . I wanted to thank you for helping me before, so… .”

“… … .”

Most religious people have a hard time ignoring other people’s feelings.

Since it is their duty to treat and care for the injured and those in pain, they cannot easily leave someone in distress alone.

Ethan knew for sure that there was a church of the Aurelian religion in the Blackwood Estate.

“If it’s okay with you, can I tell you where Sister Mirif went?”

“… I appreciate it, but is it okay for you to say that?”

“Yes. In fact, it wasn’t that far away. She probably didn’t want to send off the person who came all the way here to express her gratitude to Sister Mirif.”

Ethan, who acted calmly without even blinking an eye, realized that Mirif’s destination was the commercial city of Ermia.

Disguising yourself as a commoner who couldn’t even properly hunt a single goblin and had to seek the help of a priest was not even close to dishonorable when it came to finding Lilith.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The commercial city of Ermia.

A nearby city, a half-day’s drive from Iron Horde.

Within an hour of arriving in the village, Ethan had the feeling that ‘this was not a place to stay for long.’

The overly dense population, everyone with a tired expression on their face, and the ridiculous cost of living, such as a night’s stay at an inn costing 50 silver coins.

If Lilith is going to settle down somewhere with the name ‘Assassin Lily’ for a long time, it will definitely not be in this ‘Ermia’.

‘I guess I may have taken the wrong direction from the start.’

If I had left, I would have gone to a town other than Ermia. A town like Iron Horde where the prices were reasonable and there was always work to be done.

It may have been an exaggerated delusion to decide where to go with a junior priest she had only known for a day.

As I recalled how Lilith used to nag people who had no connection with her, it seemed that my way of thinking naturally flowed that way.

‘But since it’s worth losing, I guess I’ll stop by the Adventurer’s Guild and take a look.’

Even in this place where prices were so high, there seemed to be an adventurer’s guild, so it wouldn’t be too late to get certain information that she hadn’t come from there and then leave. With that in mind, Ethan visited the adventurer’s guild without much expectation.

“I guess Lily isn’t coming today. There aren’t many adventurers going out during the day besides Lily.”

“He usually comes every other day. He’ll probably come tomorrow or the day after.”

It was Ethan who happened to overhear the guild receptionists chatting, and it was the moment when he had a reason to stay in Ermia longer.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The staff of Ermia’s Adventurer’s Guild had at least a much stronger sense of professionalism than the staff of Iron Horde’s Adventurer’s Guild.

Could it be because they live in an expensive city where it’s hard to survive even a single day without a decent job? Even though Ethan offered twenty gold coins for information on ‘Assassin Lily’, all he got in return was the guild leader’s threat, ‘If you cause any more trouble for our staff, you will be banned from entering.’

It was much better than treating the lives of low-level adventurers as expendable items like the Iron Horde’s guild masters, but it still delayed Ethan’s journey to find traces of Lilith.

‘It costs more than I thought. I didn’t bring much travel money this time because I thought I would be back soon…’

In Ermia, sleeping for two days costs one gold coin.

It was not easy to sleep outside the city walls, where carriages came in even at midnight and dawn, and many of the available spots were already taken by adventurers living in the city.

Even the campsites where you can sleep leaning against the walls are so popular that people in such situations even trade with each other.

Even female adventurers were seen working as prostitutes as a side job because they were short on money, so it was a city that fit the term ‘commercial city’ best in many ways.

‘I hope it doesn’t have any negative effects on Lilith.’

Of course, Ethan believed that part after hearing Lilith’s crazy virgin theory, but he couldn’t deny that it wasn’t a good place for her to stay.

Ethan thought that the best he could do was to find her as quickly as possible and take her out of this town, even though he wasn’t even sure if the ‘assassin Lily’ he was looking for was really Lilith.

So, I stayed in Ermia for about a week with a vague suspicion that the assassin Lily might be in this town.

“Assassin Lily…? Now that I think about it, I think I’ve heard that name before when I went out during the day last time… .”

“… Could you elaborate? If you are the person I am looking for, I hope you will not be disappointed.”

Ethan found out that, unlike the honest guild staff, poor adventurers surprisingly easily gave out information.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Did you say you saw a girl named ‘Assassin Lily’?”

…crazy.

Am I dreaming right now?

Not only is there a person who should never be in a place where he should never be, but for some reason, Ethan even finds out my alias and conducts an investigation targeting adventurers.

Even though it was a face I had really wanted to see until last night, I felt more embarrassed than happy or excited to see it this way.

‘Isn’t it the middle of the semester now…?’

Could it be Ddaengdaengi?

No, considering the distance between Ermia and the Island of Knowledge, it wasn’t just a matter of giving up… It was the same as deciding to give up on going to school, just like me.

‘I ran away right before the semester started to have some free time, but if I keep doing this, everything will go wrong… .’

The original plan was to create an environment where Ethan would have no choice but to return to the Academy, separate from my escape from Blackwood Manor.

Luminor Academy’s rule was that leave of absence requests had to be submitted at the latest before the end of the previous semester. The rule was that leave of absence requests for personal reasons were not accepted unless there were unavoidable personal circumstances (land war, family disputes, etc.).

That means, Ethan gave up on graduating from the academy and is now looking for me… .

“… … .”

… To be honest, I’m a little happy.

I think Ethan’s actions themselves are showing me that he values me more than that academy diploma.

Actually, I wanted to run out of the alley and shamelessly talk to Ethan, but…

‘If I get caught this time, I probably won’t just let it go.’

It’s no exaggeration to say that I might meet the Ethan I saw in my dream that day again. I might put a leash on him, make him lie down on the floor, and eat like a dog, or strip him of all his clothes and make him walk around the fourth floor of the mansion naked.

“… … ugh.”

… If Ethan really wanted to, I could have done it once, but the problem is that if I go back now, it seems like it won’t be just one time.

Above all, there was another reason why I couldn’t let Ethan see me right now.

‘I’m pregnant… I absolutely cannot let this get out.’

It’s only been a month so my belly hasn’t popped out at all, but after a few months of confinement, it’ll probably swell up noticeably.

If it was discovered that I had conceived Ethan’s child without even using contraception properly, the punishment would likely be more than a simple one.

Maybe they’ll kill him as soon as he’s born, saying something like he had a child with a concubine first.

To lose the fruit of my relationship with Ethan for such a trivial reason. That was a sight I absolutely did not want to see.

‘First, let’s go back to the church.’

It was not the time to be leisurely looking for accommodations in Ermia.

Thinking that I shouldn’t let Ethan know about my existence, I hurriedly returned to the Ermia branch of the Aurelia Church to pack up my luggage and the second Jeraon.